Timberland Case Study

Timberland is a global leader in the design, engineering and marketing of premium footwear, apparel and accessories for consumers who value the outdoors. With more than 200 company-owned and franchised stores in Asia, Canada, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, and the US, training among a globally dispersed workforce is a serious challenge.

In 2004 the company designed The Brand Advocate Training System, a training solution delivered through a multimedia CD-ROM used by both retail and wholesale sales teams across Europe to gain in-depth product and brand value knowledge.

The CD-ROM quickly became an integral part of the company’s European training plan but to improve its effectiveness and ease of use among several cultures, Timberland recognised the need to partner with an e-Learning localization partner.

Challenge

• To deploy a process for the ongoing and simultaneous release of accurate, and fully localised content in French, Italian, German and Spanish, in a timely manner to coincide with the launching of new product lines.
• To evaluate the effectiveness and suitability across the 4 different cultures of the technology used as a means for training.
• To carry out an extensive cultural analysis of the content for the elimination of ethnocentric elements.

Solution

• Implementation of our e-learning localization process that allows for translation and localization of all training material in an efficient, quality controlled environment that enhances the learning experience.
• Recruitment of a dedicated team of linguists with a vast repository of specialised-language information and subject matter expertise to handle the highly technical and specialised industry terminology used.
• localization of content in French, Italian, Spanish and German.

Results

• Production of a localised training programme that delivers corporate consistency and supports continuous learning across Europe.
• Increased brand awareness and product knowledge among European sales teams and suppliers.
• Initial research revealed that ease of use and satisfaction among European employees and suppliers was so successful that the same Training Programme will be localised for Asia.